It was Gandhi who once said “You must be the change you wish to see in MWHS…” or something along those lines.
Prior to the start of the season I met with each of our eight seniors individually to hear them out on how they currently felt about our basketball culture, chemistry and identity at MWHS. Given their three years in the program, there were a lot of great [very frank and honest] assessments made. I ended nearly every conversation with, “okay - what are you going to do about it?” Receiving perplexed looks, my challenge to our seniors has been to go above and beyond in leaving their mark on the program.
I have a great group of Senior Moms who have graciously put time into our Golden Ticket initiative. With this, each boy in our program has 5 tickets to hand out to friends for free admission into our basketball game – a season-long initiative. I don’t have any history at Mound to know what past seasons have looked like, but our boys assured me the student section has been bigger and louder than any year they remember (side note: students, you have been awesome – keep coming). We may not be the most talented team in the state, section or conference. However, our players vow to put on a show of energy, toughness and unity for those who take time out of their busy schedule to support and cheer us on for 36 minutes. With that, they are truly marketing and selling the program within MWHS. Their Pride in the program is contagious, and seeing the results in fan and student support two games into the season, I get excited thinking about the short and long term future.
If our players truly take Pride in being a White Hawk, they must spread that Pride throughout the program, school, even into the community. Change doesn't happen overnight, nor does it happen alone. The program is not about me, our coaches, or our currently varsity team. It’s about those who play next year, five, ten years from now in the same White Hawk jerseys (well, hopefully we have new jerseys by then, but you catch my drift). Our current seniors; being able to return from college and beyond to future basketball games and take Pride in saying “I was part of this foundation – I left my mark.” That is MWHS Pride.
Go White Hawks!
Prior to the start of the season I met with each of our eight seniors individually to hear them out on how they currently felt about our basketball culture, chemistry and identity at MWHS. Given their three years in the program, there were a lot of great [very frank and honest] assessments made. I ended nearly every conversation with, “okay - what are you going to do about it?” Receiving perplexed looks, my challenge to our seniors has been to go above and beyond in leaving their mark on the program.
I have a great group of Senior Moms who have graciously put time into our Golden Ticket initiative. With this, each boy in our program has 5 tickets to hand out to friends for free admission into our basketball game – a season-long initiative. I don’t have any history at Mound to know what past seasons have looked like, but our boys assured me the student section has been bigger and louder than any year they remember (side note: students, you have been awesome – keep coming). We may not be the most talented team in the state, section or conference. However, our players vow to put on a show of energy, toughness and unity for those who take time out of their busy schedule to support and cheer us on for 36 minutes. With that, they are truly marketing and selling the program within MWHS. Their Pride in the program is contagious, and seeing the results in fan and student support two games into the season, I get excited thinking about the short and long term future.
If our players truly take Pride in being a White Hawk, they must spread that Pride throughout the program, school, even into the community. Change doesn't happen overnight, nor does it happen alone. The program is not about me, our coaches, or our currently varsity team. It’s about those who play next year, five, ten years from now in the same White Hawk jerseys (well, hopefully we have new jerseys by then, but you catch my drift). Our current seniors; being able to return from college and beyond to future basketball games and take Pride in saying “I was part of this foundation – I left my mark.” That is MWHS Pride.
Go White Hawks!
Ryan, Tynan, Coach Biwan and Gabe
If you have a story that you would like to share, please email mwhspride@277apps.org for more information! We would love to hear from you!
No comments:
Post a Comment